SPIRIT OF THE EASTERN SEAS A Tale for May By Chaumont Devin April 12, 1991 (The underlined spaces are to be filled with appropriate Chinese characters) Long ago, a ship was driven by a storm and broke up on a distant shore. A lone survivor clung desparately to an outcropping of rock and waited for the dawn. The seas raged around him, and sometimes they buffetted him against the rock, but he would not let go. Then, in the first grey light, he released the rock and swam for the land. He saw that his ship had been wrecked on the coast of an island something like Oahu, but that the sea around it, rather than being clear and blue, was full of mud (____). The lonely seaman found the people of this island to be somewhat strange (____). They spoke a language he could not understand. The words sounded rough and monosyllabic, and the majority of them seemed to begin with "f-" or "sh-." He often wondered what the focus of their culture might be, that all their activities could be described using such a very few words. The citizens of this island generally despised him, and would not give him jobs, so he lived as a beggar, taking whatever people would give (precious little) in the vicinity of a park very similar to Aala park. This poor man lived in utter frustration, and often despaired of ever getting home to his native land. But being a wise man, he still liked to think. He had one special spot by a river that was very much like Nuuanu Stream. Here, from time to time, he would resort to sit on the low wall and meditate (______). Beside this wall ran a row of pleasant shade trees, and a higher wall a little further back. The sounds of the city could still be heard, but here they were somewhat subdued, and there were mina birds that sang in the trees. Thus he sat one day, and because he had nothing better to ponder, he thought of the muddy sea. "Oysters like muddy water," he reasoned, "and there must be oysters living there (____). And oysters have pearls (____). . ." It was through such reflections as these that this poor man finally got into the oyster business. "If I can just find enough oysters," he thought, "sooner or later I will surely find the right pearl! And with this one pearl, I will be able to pay my passage home." He realized this must be his only hope, and so he started to dive. The people of the island thought he had gone mad. Oysters had been taken from these waters many times before, but no one remembered ever having found a pearl. Yet this poor seaman kept diving every day. People despised him, but they needed his oysters, so he got a little money from selling them. Years went by, and he did find a good number of pearls, but all of them, in one way or another, were blemished or deformed. Sometimes he thought he would grow old and too feeble to dive before he would ever find one good pearl. He almost despaired of ever again seeing his native land. Then one day, his eye caught the glint of shining metal in the murky depths. He swam nearer, thinking of gold (____), but found only an old tuna fish can. "Chicken," the tattered label read. It was "Chicken of the Sea (________)." But looking inside, he saw two oysters, and one of them held a beautiful pearl. Clutching his prize in one fist, he swam ashore to examine it more closely in the rays of the afternoon sun. Turning it slowly in his fingers, his heart was filled with joy, because this was the most perfect and beautiful pearl he had ever seen! Here, at long last, he held in his hand the means by which he could return to his distant home (__). But as he continued to gaze at his pearl, he imagined that somehow it was smiling (____). In some unexplainable way, this pearl was smiling at him. So the lonely seaman was faced with a dilemma (____). How could he sell this pearl when it was smiling at him? Instead, he named his treasure "Spirit of the Eastern Seas (__________)," and hid it in a hole in the wall (______________)near the spot where he used to meditate by the stream. Day after day he would go to this hole in the wall to look at his pearl, and day after day he imagined it smiled back at him. And not only did his pearl seem to smile upon him, but it smiled on his business as well. More and more people bought his oysters, and at a steadily better price. And some of the natives of the island even grew to respect this strange man in a grudging sort of way. He became happy (____), and rich (____), and built for himself the speediest ship that ever sailed the southern seas. This ship was so fast, in fact, that one would barely have time to glance at her before she was gone, so he gave her the name, "Sea Shadow (________)." He sailed to many remote islands in Sea Shadow, bringing Spirit of the Eastern Seas in a pouch which he kept ever close to his heart. And he did return at last to his native land, Sea Shadow crossing the boundless depths in only a few short days. At last he built a palace in the western mountains. It was open, and airy, and he called it "The Palace of Light (________)." And in the middle of the palace he built a garden, and a pedestal upon which he set Spirit of the Eastern Seas. Because of his brown hair and reddish beard, the people of that land mistook him for a Manchu (______), and called him "Lord of the Western Forests (____________)," but actually he was Mainland Haole. They treated him with deference and awe. Then one splendid May morning, he awoke to the song of birds and a bright shaft of sunlight shining into his room. It was springtime (____) in China again, and his heart was flooded with joy (__). But when he went into his garden, he was dumfounded to see a smiling Chinese princess (__________) instead of the pedestal he had built for Spirit of the Eastern Seas. He staggered backward, rubbing his eyes. Then he blinked, and looked again. She was the most beautiful (______))))) and perfect (______) Chinese princess he had ever seen, and she seemed to be smiling mischievously (____) at HIM! Unable to move, he stood as if bolted to the shining tile floor (____). Spirit of the Eastern Seas stepped forward and slapped his right shoulder playfully with her hand. Then she walked around behind him as if to examine the back of his head. At that moment, Lord of the Western Forests woke up all over again, realized who she must be, reached quickly behind him, and caught Spirit of the Eastern Seas in one arm. She let out a little shout of surprise, then came crashing and giggling around his right side, ending up with her back bending gracefully over his right leg, which was propped against a low wall. Then he pressed his lips hungrily to hers, and for some moments it seemed that the universe spun around Lord of the Western Forests and Spirit of the Eastern Seas. Stars, suns, black hair, blue sky, and clouds! It seemed to him that his very life was bound up in the gentle throbbing of her heart, and hers in the steady strength of his arms. Then he pulled back slowly to examine her face, and she returned his gaze through eyes half-closed against the morning sun. Her pink lips (____) parted slightly over a row of pearl-white teeth. He had never seen such beauty before in his life. "For a lady like you," he wanted to say, "I could easily die (__)." But being a Mainland Haole, and unaccustomed to conversations with Chinese princesses, he decided to play it safe, and talk about the weather (____) instead. "Its May," he ventured, noticing the bright sunshine and the myna birds in the trees (__). "Yes," she sighed contentedly, "and so am I." Just then they were surprised by a voice booming at them in rough Cantonese (______). "May!" said the voice, "what in hell do you think you're doing out there with that stupid red haired devil (______)? Get yourself back here this instant, and start mopping the floor (______)." Spirit of the Eastern Seas fairly sprang from his arms, and walked briskly back across the open court, her face set, and her tan cheeks showing red (__). Lord of the Western Forests thought he even noticed a glare of resentment in her eye as she shot one last sideways glance at him (____). Then Lord of the Western Forests awoke again and realized that he had never really been Lord of the Western Forests at all. Not only that, but Spirit of the Eastern Seas had never even been in his arms. He was just an old Aala Park bum, sitting beside the stream and fantasizing about a girl who sold lemon chicken at a little hole in the wall called L & L Barbecue (______). The End.